A plumber has recently been forced to cancel both his wedding plans and his honeymoon after thieves broke into his van and stole £5,000 worth of equipment.

At around one am on the 24th May, CCTV footage captured thieves breaking into Dan Young’s van using a screwdriver. It took them just seconds to get in and out and make off with his tools, leaving the plumber out of pocket.

For the facts, stats and top tips to help keep your tools safe click here.

The plumber from Bedford stated: “I don’t think I can recover financially in time for my wedding.”

“I’ve lost thousands of pounds in revenue since it happened and the honeymoon has already had to be cancelled.”

After this incident, and being offered a like-for-like replacement van from Ford, Mr Young is urging them to secure their locking system. He described: “they’re just not taking me seriously about the locks.”

“I’ve lost nearly £5,000 worth of equipment – then add the loss of earnings on top of that – as a result of how easy it was to break in.”

Ford responded stating: “professional thieves are going to great lengths to steal from vehicles; using brute force and devising new methods to breach the security of a vehicle.”

“Ford, together with other manufacturers Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, have been working to challenge this.”

The thieves, along with Ford, are not the only target of Mr Young’s frustration though. He described: “I’ve got an officer visiting me on Thursday next week, over a month after the incident happened.”

“I’ve had people telling me that crimes like this go unreported in the area because they know what the police response will be – they feel it will be no help.”

In response to this though, the police have stated that investigations will be conducted. This is in order to try and establish why it has taken so long for the incident to be investigated.

To take a look at some of the ways you can protect your van and tools, click here.

So what do you think of this? Have you been a victim of tool theft? Let us know what you think in the comments below.